The Art of Masks and Surfaces

Wondering about what’s more crucial in a work by Luis Lara Malvacías — the dance or the design — doesn’t pose too great a challenge. It’s the look that matters. On Thursday night, the choreographer returned to Danspace Project with “(T),” a premiere in which he grapples with the notion of multiplicity.

If little else, “(T)” does explore a jumble of ideas, mainly through props. Masks figure prominently. In this work for 10 performers and collaborators, including the sound designer Ivo Bol, Mr. Malvacías celebrates Halloween a little bit early. Don’t expect treats.

When the audience entered for the dance, whose run concluded on Saturday, the stage was illuminated only by fluorescent beams of light peeking through two parted curtains. On the floor, two dancers, covered from head to toe in red-patterned bodysuits, slowly rubbed against each other. What followed was a flurry of scenes: A dancer in a vampire mask flashed signs that explained: “This black robe doesn’t belong to this piece. It is from another piece, but we are recycling.”

Another, wearing the craggy-faced mask of an old man, said: “From the neck down, I’m Tim. From the neck up, I don’t know who I am.”

A woman announced that she had created a movement that was not going to be used, but demonstrated it anyway: an extended leg to the front that pivoted to the back with a half-turn. A man took steps while counting backward from 100. And, finally, there was a projection that stated, “This piece is not meant to be reviewed.”

Sadly, it was.

Mr. Malvacías flips the creative switch so many times in his meandering 70-minute production that it felt increasingly as if the dancers had been given vague instructions about what to do without any follow-through. When the stage darkened until it was nearly impossible to make out their forms, they hinged at the elbows, tilted their hips awkwardly and twitched like, well, a parade of monsters. Am I the only one who thought of “Thriller,” or is it just that time of year?

A masked Mr. Bol wheeled in a cart loaded with fruits and vegetables, which turned out to be instruments in disguise. When he touched them, they crackled and buzzed, providing a score for an all-out monster mash. But when the masks were removed, and the dancers raced across the stage, dodging one another as if it were an extreme sport, “(T)” was revealed for what it is: little more than a facade.

Sign up for the Theater Update Newsletter

Every week, stay on top of the top-grossing Broadway shows, recent reviews, Critics’ Picks and more.